Chris Levesque in net for the Vancouver Canucks as an emergency backup goalie. Photo Credit: Levesque Goaltending Instruction

By Shane Clausing

Chris Levesque

Grande Prairie resident Chris Levesque remembers his time as an emergency backup goaltender

Feb 24, 2020 | 3:21 PM

Chances are if you were watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night, you would’ve seen Zamboni driver by trade, emergency backup goaltender by night, David Ayres strap on the pads and lead the Hurricanes to a shocking 6-3 victory.

It’s a situation that rarely happens in professional hockey. But, by NHL rules, the home team must provide an emergency backup goaltender, should one team’s goalies both become unable to play.

After Carolina’s two goaltenders (James Reimer and Petr Mrazek) left the game with injuries, 42-year-old David Ayres, an employee of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, was thrust into the spotlight, where he stopped eight of 10 shots he faced in 28 minutes of action. He was also credited with the win for the Hurricanes.

The same situation that happened Saturday night in Toronto nearly happened to then UBC (University of British Columbia) starting goaltender, now Grande Prairie resident, Chris Levesque back in 2003.

“I was just sitting at home and all of a sudden my phone started blowing up, telling me about the story,” said Levesque, upon hearing about the unfolding story on Saturday night. “I went downstairs and turned it on, it’s a pretty wild situation that’s for sure.”

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Levesque is one of only a few people in the world to know what that situation is like.

On the morning of December 9, 2003, Vancouver Canucks starting goaltender Dan Cloutier was injured during the team’s morning skate with a groin injury. The Canucks couldn’t get their American Hockey League goalie to the rink in time for the night’s game against Pittsburgh, so they had to find an emergency backup to sit on the bench for the night.

“At the time it was quite a blur, I had a bunch of guys looking for me,” said Levesque. “I was in the middle of studying and at the time I didn’t have a phone on me. Somebody tracked me down in my department, and one of my buddies grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to play for the Canucks tonight.’ He pulled me out of my seat and gave me this phone number to call and it looked like a fake number because it had a lot of nines in it.”

Chris Levesque practicing with goaltenders at his Goaltending School. Photo Credit: Levesque Goaltending Instruction

Levesque says he thought his teammates were playing a prank on him, but they were not. Levesque was going to be in the Canucks lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I know there’s been multiple guys who have been had the chance to experience it since then, but having grown up and watched Vancouver and stuff like it was a pretty magical moment. To really re-live it, and what was going through my head is pretty tough. It was basically just trying to soak it all in at the moment,” said Levesque.

That night in 2003, Johan Hedberg got the start in net for the Canucks, who was known for leaving his crease, playing the puck and taking risks.

Midway through the game, Hedberg went diving out of his net to poke a loose puck, where he then took a hit to the head. Hedberg laid on the ice for several minutes and it looked like Levesque was going be forced into the game.

“Where you sit on the bench, the only way to see anything is to look up at the big screen. It’s actually pretty hard to see the ice because I got Todd Bertuzzi (in front of me), and if you know anything about the size of that man, he’s not small and doesn’t make a good window. I saw Hedberg come out and heard the crowd’s reaction and saw Pittsburgh shooting on an empty net.”

What followed after the collision was a lot of unknown for Levesque.

“It took a couple moments to figure out what the heck was going on and all of a sudden I see Hedberg sitting there and I think ‘what’s going on now? Is he down for the count? Am I going in? What’s happening?’ You just kind of sit there and wait for the nod seeing what the heck is going to happen.”

Hedberg would tough it out and finish the game, however, leaving Levesque on the bench for the rest of the game.

Over the last three NHL seasons, there have been two emergency backup goalies who’ve had to come for their respective NHL teams. Ayres for the Hurricanes on Saturday, and accountant Scott Foster for the Chicago Blackhawks on March 29, 2018. Both goalies wound up on the winning side of things.

That has left Levesque with a bit of a ‘what if’ situation.

“At the time, it could’ve been an opportunity for me in that sense. It took me a while to get past that.”

“I did play after that, went back to UBC and went down and played in the East Coast (Hockey League) for a bit and I kept trying to play at a higher level,” recalled Levesque. “I look back and maybe I go in, get lit up and then that pretty much end’s my career, or I have a performance like Foster or Ayres and who knows what happens?”

“Rolling the clock back, would I have loved to get in? Absolutely. It was a dream come true to dress, be there and skate on the ice in overtime for the celebration even. To get on and even finish the period after Hedberg had gone down, that would’ve been more than enough for me that’s for sure.”

Levesque is from the Port Coquitlam and moved to Grande Prairie with his wife who is from the area. He now operates his own goalie instruction school called Levesque Goaltending Instruction. He also works with his father-in-law painting.

Chris Levesque at Vancouver Canucks alumni game. Photo Credit: Levesque Goaltending Instruction